Blog

According to experts, to be happy, you must strike a balance between your professional and personal life. You shouldn’t let your work invade your home, and at the same time, you shouldn’t bring your personal problems to the workplace. But what if these two different facets of your life start crossing their boundaries and overlapping each other? If this is the case, then perhaps it’s time for you to consider hiring a personal assistant.

Whether you are a high-ranking office executive or a simple entrepreneur, at some point, you’ll have to get help to keep both your professional and personal affairs in order. But how do you know when it is the right time to seek outside help? Here are the signs that it’s time for you to get a personal assistant.

You’re doing everything on your own, and you don’t like it anymore. At first, you’re willing to take on different roles because it helps you become more familiar with your business. Once things start to pick up and customers start pouring in, you find yourself constantly overwhelmed by a myriad of business tasks and activities. No matter how many tasks you’ve accomplished for the day, they never seem to end. You go home every day feeling tired and exhausted.

You’re missing deadlines, despite your best efforts. You can’t keep track of what’s happening in certain areas of your business anymore. No matter what you do, you can’t seem to stay in control. You find yourself missing deadlines frequently or forgetting to pay an important supplier, among other things. You tend to forget scheduled meetings if not for the reminders on your phone or on your computer.

You’ve become a recluse. You keep turning down invitations from your friends to go out and have a drink. As a result, you’ve gained a reputation for being a recluse. Finding the time to have a vacation, even a short weekend trip, is no longer a priority. In fact, you can’t quite remember when the last time you had a vacation was.

Business problems spill over into your personal life. The times you’ve missed your son’s baseball game or your daughter’s recital to attend an unscheduled client meeting are more than you can count. Your partner or spouse is constantly admonishing you for interrupting a romantic dinner to answer a call from the office. You don’t spend enough time with your family anymore, and you do feel guilty about it. Unfortunately, you are powerless to correct your mistake.

Do any of the situations above seem familiar to you? If you answer “yes” to this question, then you should hire a personal assistant as soon as possible.

Keep in mind you can’t buy your time back. With someone to help you with your business or personal life, you will find balance and will be able to live a much more fulfilling life.

What’s the difference between a chef vs cook? Are they the same thing? To most people, they will probably reply in the affirmative. In fact, many use these terms interchangeably. But if you’re going to ask those in the restaurant and culinary industry, they will tell you that there’s a huge difference between being a chef and being a cook. So what makes a “chef” a chef, and a “cook” a cook?

What is a Chef?

Anyone who knows how to prepare a decent meal can call themselves a cook, but not anyone who can cook can refer to themselves as a chef. The word “chef” comes from the French “chef de cuisine,” which means the head of a kitchen. This basically means that anyone who is the head of the kitchen, no matter how big or small the restaurant or establishment is, is the chef.

Being head of the kitchen, the chef often has a supervisory role and is usually in charge of creating and implementing menus. They can oversee kitchen workers, order food supplies, and gauge food requirements. It is also part of their duty to maintain the quality of various dishes. Depending on the work environment and the kind of support team a chef has, they may also be expected to create recipes and prepare meals, hire staff, balance the books, and cater events.

To become a chef, there are certain requirements you must be able to fulfill. For starters, you must have a two or four-year degree in the culinary arts. In the absence of a culinary degree, you must have obtained extensive experience or training under a chef that is equal to that of a degree. This is known as a culinary apprenticeship.

What is a Cook?

If your domain is simply the kitchen at home, or you are just at the bottom of the restaurant hierarchy, then you are considered a cook. Like taking the road to becoming a chef, you can take specialized lessons to become a cook.

A typical day of a cook consists of preparing food and performing kitchen duties as needed and directed. They are almost always required to use recipes and follow the chef’s or someone else’s menu plan.

In most cases, the cook is behind the chef when it comes to prestige, salary, and career advancement. However, there are certain instances where this isn’t applicable. In fact, these days, there are many home and amateur cooks that possess skills and experience that are better and more extensive than other chefs.

If you want to be a chef in the future, being a cook can provide you with the stepping stone you need to climb the culinary ladder. It can help you develop a solid foundation on which you can build your career and teach you the skills you need to be great at what you do. You just need to be patient, and you must continue to learn to rise above the rest.

A cook and a chef can both be a members of a household staff who prepare meals and manage the kitchens. A chef, if employed in a large household, may manage other kitchen staff. While a home cook could take on additional tasks such as assisting with childcare or personal assisting. Both offer great opportunities to make a good salary and enjoy a set schedule, a couple of the benefits usually not offered in a traditional restaurant or hotel kitchen.

If you’re passionate about food and cooking, but you’d rather work on your own instead of in a restaurant, then you might want to consider becoming a private chef. Being a private chef is a great way to make a living while pursuing your passions in life. However, take note that this profession is not always a bed of roses. Like many jobs out there, it can be challenging at times, and to be successful, you need to do your best to please your clients. But if you’re very good at your job and your clients like you, then expect a lot of perks by working as a personal chef.

How to Get Started as a Private Chef

To be a private chef, you have to start somewhere. Here are some important things you need to do to put your best foot forward.

Get some training. “What’s the best path to becoming a private chef?” This is perhaps the most common question asked by aspiring private chefs. However, there is no definite answer because private chefs have different experiences with starting out. On the bright side, they do agree on one thing: being a passionate home cook is a great start, but taking up formal culinary studies is always suggested. Getting proper training can help you learn the fundamentals and enable you to familiarize yourself with the ins and outs of the food business.

Find someone to show you the ropes. After you’ve had some basic training, try to find someone to show you the ropes. You can either work as an assistant to an experienced private chef or punch in a few hours at a restaurant to find a mentor. Pay close attention to what they are doing without being too intrusive, especially if they are busy. And, more importantly, learn from their experience and see how they work and interact with their clients.

Promote yourself. You won’t find clients if you are not actively looking for them. You need to promote yourself and spread the word about the services you can offer. For instance, a website will help to showcase your portfolio, you can promote your website through the internet and social media outlets. We also suggest signing up with professional staffing agencies who will assist in finding you a great job.

Always keep learning and expanding your knowledge. It might also be a good idea to teach cooking classes to keep your skills fresh while you are looking for a position. If you would like any information on how to get started with J Danielle & Co. give us a call, we are always available to answer your questions.

The recommended linen care from the experts at La Tavola, a linen design house and national rental company.

Linen Tips

How to store linens – Larger linens and tablecloths can be stored in a closet lightly folded over a rounded hanger to avoid creases and wrinkles. Napkins are best stored with minimal folding to prevent creasing. To have napkins party ready, use a rectangular fold.

How to remove wrinkles – The steam setting on your at-home iron usually can do the trick. A no-iron option is to lay the tablecloth or napkin flat on a table, lightly spritz it with water, then smooth about the wrinkles by hand allowing the linen to dry overnight. Depending on the fabric, beware of tossing tablecloths in the dryer, as there is a good chance they will shrink. If you have a few days and don’t want to deal with it yourself, you can take linens to the dry cleaner.

How to remove candle wax – While candles create a wonderful atmosphere, their dripping can be a disaster for linens. For a small drip, try freezing the wax with an ice cube before attempting to remove. Another option is to scrape off the candle wax with a dull knife and then put the stained part of the fabric between two paper towels or paper bags. Using a low-setting iron, iron the paper towels or paper bags where the stains are. This technique will transfer the stain onto the paper towel or paper bag.

How to remove stains – The number one thing is to treat the spill as quickly as possible so it does not set in the fabric. For almost any stain, you can soak the linens in baking soda or soda water. For red wine specifically, you can blot the fabric with white wine vinegar. For more sturdy fabrics, coat the stain with salt and allow it to sit for five minutes. When dealing with oil-based stains, like salad dressing, start by rubbing in cornstarch or talcum powder to absorb the oil, then let it sit for about 20 minutes and then brush off the powder.

It’s no secret that kids don’t like fruits and vegetables as much as they like candy and chips. But if you want your children to stay healthy, it’s important that you encourage them to eat their fruits and veggies. You can do this by introducing them to smoothies.

Why Smoothies?
Children would normally cringe and turn their noses up at the sight of raw or even cooked vegetables and fruits on their plate. But if you put these foods in a food processor and transform them into smoothies, you have a better chance of convincing your children to eat healthier and more nutritious food. Since smoothies are colorful, they are more visually attractive to the eyes of children and, therefore, your kids will be more inclined to give them a try.

Introducing Your Kids to Smoothies
1. Start with the familiar
To make your kids more open to the idea of favorite fruits, like banana and strawberry. If you start with something green and more vegetable-like, it is very likely that they won’t try it.

2. Add some new items
Once your kids start enjoying their smoothies, you can add more items, like throwing in a handful of spinach with other fruits. They would probably notice the change in color, but it’s likely they won’t care, considering how much they’ve enjoyed their other smoothies.

3. Experiment
Smoothies provide a great way to get your kids used to eating both fruits and vegetables, so try different combinations of the two until you’re able to create recipes with a 50/50 fruit to vegetable ratio.

4. Put your kids in charge
Keep your kids interested in smoothies by letting them make their own from time to time. Encourage them to try new flavor combinations, because a child who feels invested in what he or she eats is likely to love his or her smoothies more.

As an Estate Manager, you are often expected to handle multiple tasks at the same time. This is why it’s vital that you know how to manage your time well so you can carry out your duties and responsibilities in the most effective and efficient way possible. To help you develop stronger and better time management skills, here are a few pointers you must consider.

Boost Your Time Management Skills
1. Get rid of the fluff
To improve your productivity, eliminate the “fluff” or anything you deem unnecessary and unimportant. This holds true for your personal life, as well. By giving up things and activities that bring you no real value, you’ll be able to accomplish more. For example, if you want to finish a report on the estate’s expenses, don’t spend the next 25 minutes playing Candy Crush or checking out Facebook. Sure, they may be fun, but these activities detract you from your original purpose.

2. Plan your activities
As the saying goes, “If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” Never go into work without having a solid idea of what you want to do because it is very likely that you won’t accomplish anything. Before you start the work day, therefore, you should spend the first 10 to 15 minutes mentally planning or writing down the tasks that you want to accomplish.

3. Know if you can multitask
Multitasking is an ability that not all people have, so before you attempt to do two things at the same time, it’s important that you verify if you can multitask first. If you can, that’s great. But if you cannot, don’t bother trying because it will do more harm than good. Trying to multitask when you can’t simply do it will only make you less effective and unfocused.

4. Know when to multitask
If you do know how to multitask, it’s important that you know when to use this special ability of yours. After all, it is not advisable to multitask all the time. To get the best results possible, it’s best to multitask activities that are considered mundane or not that important. But if you were given a task that requires your focus and concentration, you should do it without the thought of doing other activities hanging over your head.

5. Avoid distractions and interruptions
To accomplish tasks in the fastest and most efficient way possible, make sure to avoid things that will cause interruptions or distractions. Realistically speaking, you can’t reduce the number of things that will interrupt you. However, you can change the way you deal with them. For example, if you’re working on something important and one of your staff asks you for something that you know isn’t a priority, you can ask them to come back later on.

Time is Gold
Time is perhaps the most precious commodity any person would ever have. After all, the more time you have, the more you can accomplish. As such, know how to manage your time efficiently and identify what your priorities are so you can become more productive and effective at what you do.